Today I was overwhelemd. With a long vacation, two national conferences.. I haven't checked my bloglines in 45 days. Well, it was over 2,000 entries. I decided to just wipe it clean and not read them.... I also realized that I can't let it go- I subscribe to a lto of blogs, podcasts etc. and I really need to organize them better and to narrow them down to a core list. That is my resolution this week- to organize my blogline a bit better.
Also, I have great support through my colleagues with web 2.0 stuff, so I hope they will continue sharing sites, networks, etc. with me and vice versa.
Really, keeping up with your aggregator I found is the best way to stay informed, and to LISTEN... lsiten to the radio, to the television etc. that is where I often find interesting programs.... like the Internet history series on the Discovery channel, 60 minutes, listening to NYT podcasts... listening is great, especially for me as I have 2 hours to kill every day while riding the bus.
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Thing 21 Ning
I just joined Ning and Ttwitter. I don't get the whole microblogging thing. Telling people that you jsut drank a bottle of water, got done with a meeting, etc. Sure I like knowing if you are at work, at home, at a conference.. overarching things, but I don't need to live your life via twitter... I jsut don't get the appeal. maybe it is because I am nto a big phone talker- I have friends who will tell each other everything they did via the phone, so now you do it real time via twitter.
I do like how with nonprofits the world of social networking can be a GREAT thing. For example with OCLC's open worldcat- if someone actually buys an item through amazon from that program's site a portion of the $$ goes back to the library they designate (or so they claim- I don't know of any library that has received $$ from the program yet). GoodSearch with nonprofits can join and then have people use the search engine and they get $$ from every one's search with that search engine. There is a lot of potential on the web for nonprofits.
I do like how with nonprofits the world of social networking can be a GREAT thing. For example with OCLC's open worldcat- if someone actually buys an item through amazon from that program's site a portion of the $$ goes back to the library they designate (or so they claim- I don't know of any library that has received $$ from the program yet). GoodSearch with nonprofits can join and then have people use the search engine and they get $$ from every one's search with that search engine. There is a lot of potential on the web for nonprofits.
Thing 20 Facebook
I have had a facebook account for a while now... it has been great! I have reconnected with high school friends taht drifted apart during college and now we have dinner once a month or so... Facebook's creator claims he wants Facebook to connect the world- he has lofty goals, and I wish him much luck. Facebook and LinkedIn have been great for me to connect with people personally and professionally. Though I think there is a fine line of privacy here that many don't think about- how much to share with the world or even with the vendors... that information might never go away. That is something I am trying to be more aware of- my lasting imprint in the online world and how vast it is!!!
MINITEX just created an organization page... not sure how we will use it, just to create announcements on our events etc. but it would be great if we could create widgets for MTX programs.
Feel free to friend me in Facebook :) I <3 library staff!
MINITEX just created an organization page... not sure how we will use it, just to create announcements on our events etc. but it would be great if we could create widgets for MTX programs.
Feel free to friend me in Facebook :) I <3 library staff!
Thing 19 podcasts
Thanks for promoting our On the Road with MINITEX Podcasts. As a heads up I am hoping to podcast with Nancy Pearl, so you might see that in a month or so. If anyone has suggestions for interviewees, topics or ways to improve our podcast, please let me know- we are still learning and trying it out. I would liek to use garageband to create podcasts in the future because they allow .mp4 format output which allows pictures to be linked to the podcast, so you could see an image of who I was interviewing etc. Right now I use Audacity, which is free, and great in that regard and easy to use, but sin't as fancy as other software.
Podcasts I subscribe to are: grammar girl, library geeks, slate magazine, U's TEL vodcasts, LIBVIBE (GREAT for lirbary news around the country), palinet, sirsidynx, ACRL, OCLC connections and conference connections. I have so many, but onyl a coupld are daily or even weekly. it is great to download and listen to on my way to work on the bus. I can be entertained, use my dead time between work and time more effectivly and be more informed for my job.
Podcasts I subscribe to are: grammar girl, library geeks, slate magazine, U's TEL vodcasts, LIBVIBE (GREAT for lirbary news around the country), palinet, sirsidynx, ACRL, OCLC connections and conference connections. I have so many, but onyl a coupld are daily or even weekly. it is great to download and listen to on my way to work on the bus. I can be entertained, use my dead time between work and time more effectivly and be more informed for my job.
Thing 18 You Tube
I love the link that you all posted that lists all the video sites: http://web2.econsultant.com/videos-hosting-sharing-searching-services.html what a great resource.
Does anyone get blinkx? I just don't get the appeal of searching videos... I watch videos when someone shares one with me, or when there is something specific I want to watch, like an episode of Desperate Housewives, for example. And I don't think it is that accurate.
A friend of mine helped make the IT vs the librarian videos- I think they are great! Reaching out to the community like that... though not sure what good it does to the rest of the world, but library staff sure appreciate it!
I love these video sites- they have a wealth of inforamtion. However, I am also a supporter of copyright, and it is a huge challange to keep up with sites like this and to police videos to makes ure they are not breaking the law... we will see where this goes as there are about 3 major lawsuits against Google for YouTube related items. I hope it doesn't go away, but I think it still needs tweaking. It also brings up a presentation I saw a while back where the speaker illustrated how the younger generations disregard copyright laws (not that they are preferct- I think they radically need to be changed- thank goodness for creative commons for trying to do that) but I think You Tube is a great teaching point parents and teachers can have with students on what copyright is and what is okay and not okay.
p.s. I am hoping to post something to YouTube in a month or so for work possibly.
Does anyone get blinkx? I just don't get the appeal of searching videos... I watch videos when someone shares one with me, or when there is something specific I want to watch, like an episode of Desperate Housewives, for example. And I don't think it is that accurate.
A friend of mine helped make the IT vs the librarian videos- I think they are great! Reaching out to the community like that... though not sure what good it does to the rest of the world, but library staff sure appreciate it!
I love these video sites- they have a wealth of inforamtion. However, I am also a supporter of copyright, and it is a huge challange to keep up with sites like this and to police videos to makes ure they are not breaking the law... we will see where this goes as there are about 3 major lawsuits against Google for YouTube related items. I hope it doesn't go away, but I think it still needs tweaking. It also brings up a presentation I saw a while back where the speaker illustrated how the younger generations disregard copyright laws (not that they are preferct- I think they radically need to be changed- thank goodness for creative commons for trying to do that) but I think You Tube is a great teaching point parents and teachers can have with students on what copyright is and what is okay and not okay.
p.s. I am hoping to post something to YouTube in a month or so for work possibly.
Thing 17 ELM
ELM Rocks! :) But I am biased since it is my job to promote and use ELM all the time. I love soem of the new changes each of the vendors have made to the databases. Though finding NPR Podcasts in Gale can be tricky as they don't have a sort by podcast avaiable yet, they are a great tool to have. Another tool that we are promiting a lot right now is the RSS ability EBSCO has without having to create a personal account. This I think is fabulous because numerous users don't want to create another account, somethign to remember, but instead they can jsut take the RSS feed and plug it into their browser and presto- it is done! However, we are aware it doesn't work with all agregators- we are trying to troubleshoot the issue.
Page composer is ackward- I think ti could be improved. People have a hard time with having to move each citation or bit of text to rearrange things... but it is a nice addition. I have got a lot of feedback from K-12's though that they don't find it very useful as they have a page composer software at their school frequently, or a course management system that they have to use.
Page composer is ackward- I think ti could be improved. People have a hard time with having to move each citation or bit of text to rearrange things... but it is a nice addition. I have got a lot of feedback from K-12's though that they don't find it very useful as they have a page composer software at their school frequently, or a course management system that they have to use.
Thing 16 Calculator
I love RPC, and the Assignment calulator- I also love seeing so many schools link to them or adapt them to their own institution. Being a graduate student I have used the University of MN's version of the Assignment Calculator to remind me to to each task and to keep me on tack. I really enjoy the deadlines that are produced, even though they are tentative, and often I have to rework them to fit into my real world schedule... it is nice to see how if I don't procrastinate how much time I have to do things, versus when I wait and everything is due one day after the previous step how hecktic it all is.
I think the most useful past of the RPC is the new teacher version- the worksheets are fabulous, and when I should educators that is what they are so excited about.
I think the most useful past of the RPC is the new teacher version- the worksheets are fabulous, and when I should educators that is what they are so excited about.
Thing 15 Games
I am not a gamer, though I appreciate them... well I shouldn't say that- time in the evenings has been sucked up by playing the Oregon Trail or Pirates game application in Facebook. :)
I loved the PBS pages- what a wealth of information I never knew about- hopefully I can catch the series when it airs again. I also loved the old-skool gaming tips, like Pac-man to get unlimited lives :) wish I would have figured that out years ago!
I am torn with Second Life and other MMOPRG games. I think lirbaries should know about what teens and our public are using and trying- we should know about the hype and be aware of opportunities that libarries can be publicised and enhance services with. However, I am not so sure we should invest tons of hours creating avitars and virtual worlds when they are not used very much and for a small audience.... it is interesting, the second life people have virtually, and that maybe we can connect with people there that otherwise we can't in the physical world. However, I like ideas that bridge the two that librarians and educators are currently pursuing, like providing computers and times for patrons to play there games together unlimited like one night a week, or providing patrons materials that will help them be better at the game, or suscribe to gaming magazines so they come into the library and bridge the two worlds together.
I loved the PBS pages- what a wealth of information I never knew about- hopefully I can catch the series when it airs again. I also loved the old-skool gaming tips, like Pac-man to get unlimited lives :) wish I would have figured that out years ago!
I am torn with Second Life and other MMOPRG games. I think lirbaries should know about what teens and our public are using and trying- we should know about the hype and be aware of opportunities that libarries can be publicised and enhance services with. However, I am not so sure we should invest tons of hours creating avitars and virtual worlds when they are not used very much and for a small audience.... it is interesting, the second life people have virtually, and that maybe we can connect with people there that otherwise we can't in the physical world. However, I like ideas that bridge the two that librarians and educators are currently pursuing, like providing computers and times for patrons to play there games together unlimited like one night a week, or providing patrons materials that will help them be better at the game, or suscribe to gaming magazines so they come into the library and bridge the two worlds together.
Thing 14 Library Thing
I actually keep physical notes on the books I have read, but am slowly adding them into my iread application on Facebook rather than Lirbary Thing. I like the Library Thing interface but I use Facebook every day so it is more convienent for me to use iread, but now I noticed Library Thing has an application in Facebook, so maybe I will change... none of my friends are on Library Thing- they are on iRead, so it is nice to see their reviews and suggestions there.
I am looking at using Library Thing for a small library that I might be working with to catalog their small collection. They have virtually no budget so I am looking for a web based system that is super inexpensive and user friendly, and Library Thing might be the answer- we will have to see.
I am looking at using Library Thing for a small library that I might be working with to catalog their small collection. They have virtually no budget so I am looking for a web based system that is super inexpensive and user friendly, and Library Thing might be the answer- we will have to see.
Thing 13
I didn't explore Basecamp but I know a lot of the departments at the U use it for project management. I want to look into it more but I jsut don't have the time to download it and play with it, however I took the tour and it looked like it would have really helped me keep on track with a recent project at work that I needed a timeline, etc. for.
I like Remember the Milk, very similar to another I have used called Sally, where I get messages sent to my cell phone- very useful! PDF converter was a lifesaver before we got our PDF system working at MINITEX. For items I want to share with people but don't want them to change, etc. the PDF converter is a great resource with no technology installation required!
I like Remember the Milk, very similar to another I have used called Sally, where I get messages sent to my cell phone- very useful! PDF converter was a lifesaver before we got our PDF system working at MINITEX. For items I want to share with people but don't want them to change, etc. the PDF converter is a great resource with no technology installation required!
Thing 12 Digg
Before thing I never really took the time to look at DIgg, never understood it. Now, I love it! How cool to sort to gaming or technology and get info from Money magazine, seattle times, the economist, CNN etc. before I would jsut go to CNN and BBC and MinnPost for my news, but this is great- I dont' always read money or the economist, unless something on a listserv poitns out something interesting in the library/technology world, but this site points to general articles of interest.... though I must say it is a productivity detractor.. beforei k new it 20 minutes clocked away while I was at home... my husband came up behind me and asked what I was looking at and he though it was cool, but I was so intently reading I didn't hear him call my name.... very distracting time-warping stuff you can find!
I do think it is a good thing that the public has an outlet that they can vote on the best articles/stories etc. however I do like having some professional interventions... at CNN I love reading the technology and headlines, but if you look at the most popular pages, usually they have to do with celebrity gossip, etc. I like that they focus often on headlines at the top and then lower down you can see the public's picks....
I do think it is a good thing that the public has an outlet that they can vote on the best articles/stories etc. however I do like having some professional interventions... at CNN I love reading the technology and headlines, but if you look at the most popular pages, usually they have to do with celebrity gossip, etc. I like that they focus often on headlines at the top and then lower down you can see the public's picks....
Thing 11 Tagging
I have a deciclious accoutn I started over a year ago, but I always forget to use it... I don't care much for the interface. Though sharing and collaborating in it is really easy. The student Art Lirbarians Group I belong to have a delicious account that every one adds to and it works wonderfully. Here is our group delivious account if you would liek to see an active example: http://del.icio.us/arlisnap
I looked at PageKeeper and I think this would be a nice site for me to use with my MORE training- to break it out by weeks, and people can add to it etc.... Good find! Furl I find a bit easier to use and love the plugins so I can use it with IE or Firefox. I need to play aroun with it a bit more but I think I am going to move everything from delicious to FURL... I also like that both have RSS features now- they didn't have that back when I started I don't think. Now I am going to subscribe to the RSS of my ARLISnap account- didn't know about that before! fabulous!
I looked at PageKeeper and I think this would be a nice site for me to use with my MORE training- to break it out by weeks, and people can add to it etc.... Good find! Furl I find a bit easier to use and love the plugins so I can use it with IE or Firefox. I need to play aroun with it a bit more but I think I am going to move everything from delicious to FURL... I also like that both have RSS features now- they didn't have that back when I started I don't think. Now I am going to subscribe to the RSS of my ARLISnap account- didn't know about that before! fabulous!
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